Impossible
by The2nd
Summary: The Wrath/Greed confrontation in ch.99/100 from Wrath's perspective.


Contains spoilers of Chapter 99 and 100 of the manga.

I of course do not own any of the characters or any part of FMA. The quoted portions are taken directly from the manga and are definitely not mine.

* * *

The Xingese Prince must be back in control, he mused. The complete lack of armor was the most glaring indicator. While he had long cast aside his own humanity, he recognized in the action itself that his opponent was no longer his fellow homunculus. Greed "cared" for his "possessions," but he would not have reacted quick enough to save the old man.

"The Xingese Prince, now?"

Regardless of the temporary reprieve, the old man was dying. He knew he had caused too much damage, there was too much blood loss, and there were no Doctors or medical Alchemists near enough to save the man. Attempting to defend the dying man would simply hamper the Prince's formidable agility.

"You risk your own life instead of making sacrifices. Just as with the girl who cut off her arm."

Things were playing out just like the last time. The wounded retainer was trying to perform his last duty. He was attempting to reason with the Prince to abandon his insignificance to pursue a greater goal. And just like the last time, the Prince was wasting time arguing about being a Just King, an impossibility.

Inevitably the old man took matters into his own hands, stunning his own Prince in an attempt to let Greed regain control of the body. That could prove troublesome, the ultimate shield, if Greed could keep control. However, the possibility of that was minute. When the old man died the Prince would be back in control, human emotions were so predictable, wrath most of all.

The old man charged. He moved quickly for a dying man. He ripped open his tunic to reveal 4 grenades and pulled the primers. A suicide attack, humans were so predictable.

He could simply retreat fast enough that the old man would die in futility. However, that would put the possibility he was afraid or a coward into the minds of the survivors. He needed to crush any hope they had left, not weaken his image of being unstoppable. The loss of hope would simplify and speed up the conclusion of this battle significantly, and he was not as young as he once was.

He could throw his stolen sword, killing the man at a distance to once again explode in futility, but that would deprive him of a weapon.

He noticed the Briggs Captain staggering towards him. No threat, the Briggs soldier was dying as well. While immensely strong, the Captain was not fast enough to be a danger. The only weapons he had were the bladed chain wrapped around his one hand and the sword through his abdomen. Which, if that sword were to be removed, would simply hasten the Captain's demise.

The Captain would arrive a second after the old man, who was now nearly to him and so was a secondary concern. The answer was to stop the old man but leave him to die in failure. One horizontal slash to cut the fuses and bisect the old man. It would remove the minor threat and the old man's quick but non-instant death would sap the strength of the remaining Briggs soldiers and leave Greed's armor out of play thanks to the Prince's anger and desire for revenge.

Yelling something about taking him to Hell, the old man's hand grabbed his head. In one near-instant motion he slashed to his right and paused. There sitting on top of the stolen blade sat 4 fuses. The old man's face was one of shock as he exploded in a spray of blood. The Briggs Captain was now directly behind the old man, he would strike as soon as the old man's body fell. A simple return stroke should end that—

PAIN

"Even the eyes of God Himself can't block an attack they can't see!" shouted the Captain.

The Captain had stabbed through the old man! Impossible! Not since his creation 42 years ago had he felt such pain. The old man laughed in his dying breaths, in a sense of elation that must come from going from complete failure to success.

The Prince was charging, he needed to get clear of his own sword, which the Captain had stabbed him through the old man with. He kicked the dying men to the ground and the sword pulled free, more pain. The Prince was nearly to him and—

"Greed?"

The ultimate shield was still active. Greed shot an armored hand toward his head. He could dodge right to avoid the blow completely allowing him to counter, but his legs were failing.

The strike sped closer. He could block the strike with the sword, but his arm wasn't moving fast enough.

His body was failing, he knew what to do, but he could no longer do it. There was only one option left, deflection. He slashed the sword to strike Greed's arm, to deflect the strike wide—

PAIN

The old man's sword broke, only barely deflecting the head shot. While he survived, the Greed's armored thumb had torn his ultimate eye while cutting the left side of his face.

Then Greed paused, blue alchemical lighting shot up throughout the city. He grimaced in an almost-smile, it had begun.

He grabbed Greed's arm, and where possibilities and outcomes would have rushed through his ultimate eye, there was nothing. He would have to fight through this without it's guidance. The moat was directly behind him. He could throw Greed over the edge and then finish the remaining Briggs soldiers. That would by him time to figure out how to deal with Greed and his damned shield.

He pivoted and threw Greed over the side but his body failed him again. He could not stop his momentum and tumbled after his opponent.

Greed grabbed the side of parapet. He snatched the other homunculus' hand and they hung dangling over the edge. Greed's claws dug into the stone, but they were slipping. Greed glared down at him with hate filled eyes as the stone gave way and then they were falling.

The fall was brief, only a foot. An armored hand seized Greed's upper arm. The girl who had cut off her arm, she had obviously corrected her deficiency with an automail replacement. The pair shouted at one another, his opponent's chose the oddest times to argue but this would give him time to think. If he could get Greed into the water below he could drown the other homunculus, the ultimate shield would provide no air for him to breath. But that would take to long, he noticed the girl was now shouting for help from the remaining Briggs soldiers.

One of the traitors appeared over the side and aimed down at him. He threw the broken sword at the head of the soldier. He would have to figure out how to deal with the others that would appear—

PAIN

He missed! Impossible! He only grazed the soldier's leg and the soldier had still been able to shoot him in the shoulder. He felt his grip slipping as his body continued to fail. Then he fell.


End file.
